Arsenal Invincible Emmanuel Petit reckons the current Gunners team lack the steel of his generation.

“You have to remember the defence that we had,” said Petit. “You could rely on Seaman, Adams, Keown, etc.

“We knew how to travel. When we had to play, we knew how to do that too. I remember one away game at Wimbledon where Tony Adams came to say to me: ‘Today, Manu, forget the football. It’s war’. We knew how to adapt because we only wanted one thing: to win.

”Petit, now 44, reckons the current Arsenal team lacks the same hard edge.

“Let’s say that the Barcelona of keeping the ball has overtaken that style,” he said.

“But today, you have to be more direct and pragmatic. You see that with Germany or Real Madrid. Arsenal have very pretty players but there are not ‘killers’ in this team. At that time, we were tough, we did not play to look good.”

And Petit warned Monaco will offer a tough challenge in the last 16 despite the loss of Radamel Falcao, James Rodriguez and Emmanuel Riviere.

“What they have done is remarkable with all the players they have lost,” he said. “The changes have been handled perfectly and the Champions League has helped. It is no one of the biggest fortresses in Europe.

“I will be supporting the red and whites! No, honestly, I cannot make the choice. May the best team win.”

Monaco vice-president Vadim Vasilyev, whose side conceded only one goal in the group stages, said: “Clearly Arsenal are the favourites. But I believe that my team will give everything.

"The pressure is on Arsenal. We have already done well. Nobody saw us at this stage of the competition at the start of the season.”